The present invention relates to a method for the automatic determination of the installation positions of wheels in a motor vehicle.
DE 42 05 911 A1 discloses a monitoring device for the air pressure of tires of vehicle wheels. However, the realization presented therein is very sophisticated. An embodiment mentioned therein includes an associated receiver on the vehicle for each transmitter in the wheel, while another embodiment is based on a combined transmitting/receiving unit in the wheel and one or more receiving units on the vehicle. The individual wheels are allocated to their installation positions by way of a so-called pairing process, which is carried out either manually or automatically. In the manual pairing process, an operator allocates the wheels to their installation positions. Therefore, the manual pairing process is very time-consuming and labor-intensive and, in the event of a faulty operation, can cause a wrong allocation of the individual wheels to their installation positions. The automatic pairing process renders a correct allocation of the individual wheels to the installation positions possible. However, the technical effort needed is very comprehensive and costly as it necessitates additional hardware, e.g. several receiving antennas.
DE 197 21 480 A1 discloses a method for detecting pressure loss in the vehicle tire. As the method is based on signals being obtained from rotational wheel speeds of several vehicle wheels, it is possible to allocate the wheel with air pressure loss to the respective, actually existing mounting position. However, the method is inappropriate to determine an absolute pressure value of the individual wheels.